As weird of a thought as it was, she was relieved she wasn't running from these creatures alone. Even if she was running alongside a morally dubious woman who didn't exactly give off the hero vibe. That meant vigilante, villain or unusually well-armed civilian and she seriously doubted the latter. Still, it beat being here all alone. Had she not bumped into Retsu there was a very real chance she might have been dead by now. ''Splash zone?'' She screamed when she realized what Retsu meant and somehow managed the energy to sprint a little faster. Seconds after Retsu reached the top of the dune, Freja crashed right behind her after struggling to get to the top.

Catching her breath, she turned to look at the oversized whale that was emerging. Where they ever going to catch a real break? She had so much to live for, she couldn't die again before reaching retirement age. ''We can't fight that... There's no way.'' She wiped some sweat off her brow as she clutched her bat. She had been so stunned by the appearance of the oversized whale that she hadn't thought to look back at her partner-in-near-death. ''Huh?'' What was it with people and calling her batgirl? Did it just come naturally to them? Wait a second, she was throwing something, it was a grenade wasn't it?!

Somehow, even though she had so little time to act, with the way Retsu threw it and her words, she immediately understood the context she was in. Repositioning herself she lifted her bat and swung, hitting the grenade and sending it flying towards their target. Would it be enough to save them from becoming fish food? ''Are you insane?! How about giving me a warning next time!'' She shouted as she ran after Retsu after just narrowly avoiding her own demise.

Bakiri Retsu

''It's no bat, but at least my equipment isn't that heavy.'' She mumbled to herself. A watch that makes her warp back in time, kind of like Farrin and Firestarter berries. With the watch she could probably make up for her mistakes when she made a misstep and the berries could be used as a weapon. The berries especially held sentimental value to her. Not only was it Sumi who had made them, but they gave her the ability to temporarily breathe fire. Wasn't that kind of reminiscent of old Freja's fire quirk? It took all her willpower to not tear up then and there, and instead she focused on looking at the other students she had been grouped with, offering Emilia a small, but nervous wave.

The white void they were currently in put her at unease and the digital timer on the floor didn't help. What if the floor was going to open up when they hit zero? What if they were about to drop 100ft? The thought alone gave her the chills. ''Hey, let's do our best everyone?'' She wanted to sound inspiring, but it came out sounding more like a plea. When the timer hit zero, she closed her eyes, bracing for whatever was going to happen.

But nothing did.

''Hm?'' She opened her eyes only to find... Darkness. Wait, did she even open her eyes? She couldn't even see her own hands, how were they expected to work in these conditions? Letting her hand trail along her arms she felt the Rollback watch she had been given. At least she still had her sensation of touch. ''Is everyone okay?'' She asked the others.

She let out a startled yelp when the voice penetrated the void. ''..Creepy.'' She whispered to herself, trying to compose herself after that embarrassing jump. ''Our objective?'' She looked up to try and locate the disembodied microphone voice, as if that would work. Her eyes were soon drawn to the spotlight as it shone down on the rockstar. The mass of people made her reach for her fire berries, but she hesitated to use them. These were people under his control after all, right? Just civilians fighting against their will.

''We need to get past those people, what does your gear do?'' She spoke up, ''I can only create fire or teleport back to where I've been.'' As she said that, an idea formed in her head. ''Don't hurt them! They're probably civilians!'' She shouted once more before taking off, sprinting right into the chaos. Maybe if she was lucky and acted quickly she could slip past the mass of people. In case she got captured, she still had her watch, right? What's the worst that could happen?

TL;DR: Freja is nervous, tries to hype the others up. She lets out a yelp when they enter darkness and the test begins. She asks what everyone's gear can do and states that hers can create fire or take her back in time to a spot she's already been to. Finally, she charges ahead recklessly, hoping to sprint past the mass of people that is coming for all of them (Freja has NOT used any gear yet).

Aimoto Momo
Arataki Noa
Emilia Hall
Sol

[attr="class","likedo"]

She hated his answer, but she knew it was the uncomfortable truth. Would she end up like this one day too? Assuming her lifespan wasn't somehow shorter due to her quirk revival, would she end up old and alone in some corner of the world one day? ''Yeah..'' How long had Tomio been on his own before they came to help?

''You offered to help him like it was just second nature. That was nice of you.'' All she had done was follow his example. ''Yeah, you're right.'' She cheered up a bit, pushing the negative feelings aside for now. She couldn't do anything about it, it was just how society was put together. What she could do, was make sure that some elderly people weren't lonely, even if it was just one or two more she could help make a difference. ''I don't have any family here anyway, so it's not like I have anything better to do with my free time besides train.'' She stretched her arms and looked back at Farrin. ''Others sit by your side, huh?'' She had never thought about it like that before, wasn't Sadako their guidance counselor kind of like that? She wasn't less of a hero for helping others the way she did. ''I like that. For now, I want to try to be that type of hero.''

What kind of chores would await them at the next house? Whatever they were, she was going to bear it with a smile and try to make the most of her time with Farrin and the elderly to help make their day just a little bit better.

Farrin

[attr="class","likedo"]

[attr="class","likedo"]

''Duds?'' She furrowed her brow. ''I'm not a dud. I'm a hero student just like you.'' She could only assume the black bodysuit which he summoned so casually had to do with his quirk. Wait, was she just glossing over the fact that he said cage matches? Just where did this guy come from that they organized cage matches for people, quirked or not to fight in? She had no time to question him as the field was covered in this same dark matter next. Shadows? Some kind of energy? It couldn't be good news for her that it was spreading so quickly.

''I won't know unless I try.'' She was trying her best to appear confident, but she had to admit her prospects weren't looking good right now. Then again, what would she accomplish from just surrendering now? Nothing. She might learn something from fighting Leo, but she risked learning nothing and maybe even questioning her place in this hero system if she simply didn't take up the fight. ''Is that so?'' Lacked the time, huh? She would be the judge of that. Readying her bat, she was about to take a step forward when she looked down again. She flinched and quickly retracted her foot upon seeing the spikes. She wasn't about to lose her motivation because of one match, hell no! A quick glance around her told her getting up close to him by running would be pretty much impossible, and the shadowy hands were fast approaching on her position too. With little time to think she arrived at a fast solution, thankfully she was good at thinking on her feet and very proficient in wielding and aiming her weapon.

She was going to try to thread the needle.

Spinning her bat around once, she pointed the tip at Leonard before pressing the mechanism to fire a grappling hook at him, aiming to try and hit him with a ranged attack, rather than predictably run up to him and hit her feet on the spikes, or risk getting caught by the hands before she could even land her first hit.

Leo Kaiser